Part Two of Our Story

While it's all still fresh in my head, I thought I'd pick up where I left off with how we've gotten to this point...

Our first look at Liu Er Qin on Feb 1, 2011

We started the adoption process in Nov 2010. On February 1, 2011, as we had just wrapped up our home study, I got a call from our case manager at All God's Children. "I have a referral for you," she said. Before she mentioned anything about the child, she prepared me that families often view many children's files before they accept a referral. I was prepared before she said a word about the child to know that this was not our little girl. She gave initial information about a 19 month female over the phone and asked if I was interested in seeing the file and her picture. Of course! I frantically called Chris, who was in VA for work, so we could review the file online together. Neither of us spoke for several minutes other than to say, "Wow...I can't believe this is happening," as we looked at Liu Er Qin's picture and read countless doctor's reports about her health conditions. While we didn't feel what I had expected, that certainty that God had chosen this little girl to be part of our family, we did feel a sense that the Holy Spirit was guiding us toward an answer. Through prayer, doctor consultations, and numerous discussions with our case manager, we decided to put Liu Er Qin's file on permanent hold. In other words, we were unofficially her adoptive parents. Her file was removed from the database on Friday, February 4, 2011 and we went out to celebrate at a Chinese restaurant on the first day of the Chinese New Year! We knew that some of her medical findings were ambiguous which left us with a bit of apprehension, but the way everything was falling into place seemed like nothing less than God's work! All we could do, we agreed, was take one step at a time in faith. If this child was intended for another family and not ours, we knew that God would close doors and we would be obedient to His will...

And the miracle that happened next will be the source of the final part of this story...to be continued!

Chinese New Year-Feb 4,2011